Simon Kinberg

Simon Kinberg
Kinberg at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	circa 1973 (age 50–51) London, England
Alma mater	Brown University, Columbia University School of the Arts
Occupation	Screenwriter, film producer

Simon Kinberg (born circa 1973) is an English-born American screenwriter and film producer. He is best known for his work in the X-Men film franchise, and wrote and/or produced several other box-office successes such as Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Sherlock Holmes, Cinderella, and The Martian. His production company is Genre Films (usually credited as Kinberg Genre), which has a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox.

Early life

Kinberg was born in London, England, and from age 6 raised in Los Angeles, California. He is Jewish. He graduated from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, and in 2003 received his MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts, where he won the Zaki Gordon Fellowship for Screenwriting.

Career

While still in film school, Kinberg sold a pitch to Warner Brothers, then went on to write scripts for Disney, Sony, and DreamWorks, working with Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer, among others. After finishing school, Kinberg moved to Hollywood, where his first screenwriting credit was a sequel to the hit action film xXx (2002), xXx: State of the Union. His next screenwriting venture was the screenplay for Mr. & Mrs. Smith, directed by Doug Liman and starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The script began as Kinberg's thesis project for film school. Kinberg also wrote the pilot episode for a television adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith for ABC TV. He also appears in the movie, in a scene with Brad Pitt.

Kinberg's next screenwriting job was the sequel to X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which he co-wrote with Zak Penn. Comic-book writer Chris Claremont wrote the novelization of the film, and made Kinberg a character in the book.

Kinberg reunited with director Doug Liman for the film Jumper (2008). Kinberg wrote and produced the movie, which stars Samuel L. Jackson, Hayden Christensen, and Diane Lane. The following year, Kinberg was writer of Sherlock Holmes, directed by Guy Ritchie, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law. In April 2010, his production company, Genre Films, signed a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox.

Kinberg was the producer of X-Men: First Class (2011) at 20th Century Fox, directed by Matthew Vaughn, starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence. Kinberg was the writer and producer of the film This Means War, starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy, released February 17, 2012. He was also co-screenwriter and an executive producer of the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in that same year. In 2013, Kinberg produced Elysium, directed by Neill Blomkamp, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster.

The following year, Kinberg was the writer and the producer of the film X-Men: Days of Future Past. That same year, he produced Let's Be Cops. In 2015, Kinberg produced the Neill Blomkamp film Chappie and the live-action version of Cinderella at Disney. He also worked on Fantastic Four as writer and producer. His final film of the year was The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott.

He wrote and is producing X-Men: Apocalypse, the next film in the X-Men franchise following X-Men: Days of Future Past. He is also producing an adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel Murder on the Orient Express, a remake of Logan's Run, and a live-action film of Magic: The Gathering. In addition, Kinberg is producing the X-Men spin-off films, Deadpool and Gambit. Both films are scheduled to be released in 2016.

The Hollywood Reporter initially reported that Lawrence Kasdan, writer of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and Kinberg would write and produce Episodes VIII and IX of the new Star Wars films. A week later the publication stated that Kasdan and Kinberg would be working on future Star Wars projects, but not necessarily on Episodes VIII and IX.

Personal life

Kinberg has two sons.

Filmography

Year	Title	Credited as		Notes
		Writer	Producer
2005	XXX: State of the Union	Yes	No
	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Yes	No
	Fantastic Four	No	No	uncredited as writer
2006	X-Men: The Last Stand	Yes	No	co-wrote with Zak Penn
2008	Jumper	Yes	Yes
2009	Sherlock Holmes	Yes	No
2011	X-Men: First Class	No	Yes
2012	This Means War	Yes	Yes
	Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter	No	Yes	Executive producer
2013	Elysium	No	Yes
2014	Let's Be Cops	No	Yes
	X-Men: Days of Future Past	Yes	Yes
	Star Wars Rebels (TV series)	Yes	Yes	Also executive producer
2015	Cinderella	No	Yes
	Chappie	No	Yes
	Fantastic Four	Yes	Yes
	The Martian	No	Yes
	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	No	No	Consultant
2016	Deadpool	No	Yes
	X-Men: Apocalypse	Yes	Yes
	Gambit	No	Yes

External links

• Simon Kinberg at the Internet Movie Database
• The Dialogue: Learn from the Masters Interview